Submarine mine



wan 9 e wm.

A. L. GWYN N E SUBMARINE MINE Filed July I5 remise sept. e, 1924.

narran staresy earner orifice.

ASSIGNOR T0 VICKERS LIMITED, DF WESTMINSTEB, ENGLAND.

SUBMARINE MINE.

v appueaaon sied my is,

192i. Serial No. d.

(GRANTED 'UNDER THE PROVISIONS 0F THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1.921, l1 STAT.L., 1313.)

. To all whom it may cof/wem? Be it known that l, ALBAN Lewis GWYNNE,commander R. N., a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at H.MsS. Vernom ?ortsinouth, England, have invented certain new and useful hlinprovements in Submarine Mines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to safety devices 10, for preventing a prematureexplosion of a mine before it is properly placed 4in position, andconsists in maintaining the primer anddetonator out of the relative ringposition, by mechanism which is operated by Waterpressure and requires apredetermined miniinum force to eiiect the operation. The mechanism in aconvenient form comprises a hydrostat or the like, the diaphragm of vv'ch is operatively connected to the primer or detonator as the case maybe, and works against a spring to supply the minimum force to beovercome before the primer and .detonator can take up the tiringpositions.

in order that the invention may be clearly understood and carried intoeect the same will new be describedmore 'fully with reference to theaccompanying drawings which illustrate in part sectional and brokenelevation one form ofthe invention as applied to the ring gear or" asubmarine explosive body. Referring to the drawings primer l is mountedon a su port 2 carriedv by va spindle 3, on which is mounted a sleeve4l,

connected to a flexible member 5, which fuliils the function of ahydrostat diaphragm, the other end of which is xed in any suitable Wayto a i'ixed part 6 of the mine. The

sleeve 4 is initially locked to the spindle 3 by a ball releasing devicesuch asis described in the specification for British Patent No.

8929/16, this form of ball release per se forming no part of thisinvention. The

other end of the spindle is provided with a safety catch 7 or the liketo prevent any accidental operation, this safety catch being moved totlieo position when the mine is to be laid.

ln operation, es the mine falls, the. hydrostatic pressure lifts thesleeve 4 against the spring 8 until the ball 9 can pass away underneaththe end 4 of the sleeve whereupon the hydrostatic pressure causes theyesible ing a primer and detonator, means c erting a minimumpredetermined resistance member 5 to extend from its folding up po.-

sitilon, as shown, thereby carrying the primer up to the iring positionrelatively to the detvonator 10, which initially is separatedhfrom thetop of the primerlbythe safe distance.

lt will be seen that until the pressure is sufficient to overcome thespring 8 of the ball releasing device to lift the sleeve 4 sufficientlyfor the ball to escape, theprimer is unable to be' moved towards thefiring position.

the firing position in a similar manner to that above described.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let- -ters Patent of the UnitedStates is l. A submarine explosive body comprisfing .a primer anddetonator and means for maintaining said primer and detonator out of therelative iiring position until after the body hasbeen launched.

2. A submarine explosive body comprising a primer and detonator andmeans for bringing the primer and detonator into the,

tiring position after. the .body hasl been launched and has reached apredetermined depth of submersion.

3. A submarine explosive body comprisfor eX- to relative movement ofsaid primer and detonator and means which "act, after the mine has beenlaunched and reaches a predetermined depth of submersion, for causingsaid detonator and primer to assume the iring position. A

4. submarine explosive body comprising a primer and detonator andhydrostatic means formaintaining said primer and detonator out., of therelative firing position until after the body has been launched.

5. A. submarine explosive body lcomprising a primer and detonator andhydrostatw means for bringing the primer and detonator into the firingposition after the body has been launched and has reached apredetermined depth of submersion.

6. `A submarine explosive body comprising a primer and detonatpr, aspring for exerting a minimum predetermined resistance -to relativemovement of seid primer and detonator, and hydrostatic means which' act,after the mine has been launched, for

causin said detonator and primer to assume the firing position.

7. A submarine explosive body comprising a primer and detonator, means,includmg a all 'releasing devlce,` for exerting a minimum predeterminedresistance to relative movement of said primer and detonator, andhydrostatic means which act after the body has been launched for causingsaid detonator and primer to assume thofiring position.

8. A submarine explosive body comprising a primer and detonator, amovable support for said primer, a spindle connected to said support, asleeve on said spindle, a spring positioned between said sleeve and saidmovable support, a fixed member on the mine casing positioned betweensaid sleeve and said spmdle,a ball releasing device, the balls of saidreleasing device being posi# tioned within recesses 1n 'said fixedmember and projecting within a recess in said spindle and being held inlace by said sleeve, and a dlaphragm ful ling thefunction of a hydrostatdiaphragm, one end of which is connected to said sleeve and the otherend to a fixed part of the explosive body. v

9. In a submarine mine, in combination, a primer charge, a detonator innormal safety position remote from said primer charge with respectthereto and hydrostatically operative means adapted to produce relativemovement between said detonator and the primer char e. A

I ALBANv EWIS GWYNNE.

